Quick quiz: what is Canada’s most iconic national brand?
If you said Tim Hortons, then you’re wrong.
Polls have shown that Canadians prefer McDonald’s and Starbucks coffee, and Tim’s is now owned
by a Brazilian investing firm.
No, the greatest Canadian brand is No Name, the generic grocery and household item line
by Loblaw which has been saving Canadians money for over 40 years.
If you’re a fellow No Name enthusiast, then you might be wondering how No Name got started.
Welcome to the history of No Name, by me, professor goose.
And stick around till the end to see me rank my top ten favourite No Name products.
And no, No Name isn’t sponsoring this video, although clearly they should as I’m such
a well known influencer with a massive audience.
No Name’s iconic black and yellow branding was created by the legendary Canadian graphic
designer Don Watt.
He pioneered the idea of store branding, and his other clients included Walmart and Home
Depot.
No Name first launched on March 21st, 1978: the same year that Loblaw launched the first
No Frills grocery store.
When it first launched, Loblaw president Dave Nichol didn’t seem too certain that it would
be successful.
There were only 16 products available, and Nichol made no guarantee that it would be
continued after its initial launch.
But when over a million products were sold after only two and a half weeks and suppliers
struggling to keep up with demand, No Name was declared a runaway success.
Just one year later, Loblaw had expanded the No Name line to over 100 products and by the
mid-1980s, No Name was the best-selling brand in Canada!
But what was the reason for No Name’s success?
Well, it launched at a time of rising inflation when consumers were complaining about the
high cost of groceries.
No Name kept prices low by using generic instead of custom packaging and by negotiating lower
priced, bulk orders from suppliers.
In the 80s and 90s, No Name started to deviate from their classic black and yellow branding
by adding new fonts, red lettering, and pictures.
At this time, Loblaw’s President’s Choice brand was increasing in popularity so No Name
was put on the back burner.
But in 2009 the Great Recession was in full swing and consumers were looking for savings
once again, so Loblaw relaunched the No Name brand, returning to the yellow branding with
black Helvetica text.
Today, there are over 2900 different No Name products available across Canada.
Alright, that’s enough history, it’s time to move on to my top ten favourite No Name
products.
Starting off at number 10 we’ve got dishwasher detergent.
I am of the belief that you do not need to be spending lots of money on fancy dishwasher
bricks, something cheap and simple will do the trick, and No Name dishwasher detergent
is the cheapest stuff that I’ve been able to find.
At number 9 we’ve got milk chocolate.
This chocolate bar is actually a little bit more expensive than the cheap stuff you can
get at the dollar store, but I was honestly surprised at how high quality this chocolate
is.
This is seriously tasty and it is still cheaper than most chocolate bars you can get at a
grocery store, so that’s why it’s ranked number 9.
Next up at number 8 we’ve got various spices.
Spices can get pretty expensive, that’s probably why the European powers invaded half
the world searching for them.
If only they had had access to affordable spices with No Name.
Number 7 is mac & cheese, it’s a classic cheap meal that everyone loves.
The No Name stuff is cheaper than the classic KD - I’ve seen it as cheap as $0.67 a box
– and I find it tastes just as good!
My number 6 choice is the 250 mL tub of 14% sour cream.
I like sour cream and I like saving money.
What more do I have to say?
Coming in at number 5 are naturally imperfect bell peppers.
I eat a lot of bell peppers so of course I want to save money when I buy them.
And these peppers taste exactly the same as regular peppers, and honestly I get a kick
out of their funny shapes.
At number 4 we have herb & garlic cream cheese!
This stuff is quite a bit better value than the leading brand, Philadelphia.
And I love some herb & garlic cream cheese on a toasted bagel in the morning, earning
this product the number 4 spot.
We’re into the top 3 now!
Frozen pierogies are honestly such a quick and easy meal to make when you’re tired
after a day at work and don’t feel like cooking something fancy.
These guys are cheaper than the competition coming in at only $2 a bag and I honestly
prefer their flavour.
Earning the silver medal is the club sized artificial vanilla flavour.
If you’re someone who enjoys baking like me then you’ll know just how expensive even
artificial vanilla flavour can be for just a tiny little bottle.
Coming in at just over $8 for an ENTIRE LITRE of artificial vanilla, this is such a good
deal there was NO WAY I couldn’t rank it highly on this list.
So, which product do I give the #1 honour to?
This one might surprise you, but I consider everything bagels to be the #1 no name product.
As I alluded to earlier I love me a toasted everything bagel with herb & garlic cream
cheese in the morning.
I usually eat at least one of these bad boys a day.
Given that it only costs $1.67 for six bagels, and that I think they’re way better tasting
than most other discount bagel brands, I’d say they have definitely earned the number
one spot on my list.Thanks for watching and be sure to let me know what your favourite
no name products are in the comments below.
And be sure to subscribe if you want to see more content like this!